In late summer 1835, The New York Sun printed a six-part series detailing monumental astronomical discoveries made by Sir John Herschel, a renowned British astronomer who was actually in South Africa conducting real research. The articles claimed Herschel had constructed an impossibly powerful new telescope capable of seeing fine details on the lunar surface. Readers were mesmerized by descriptions of lush lunar vegetation, amethyst crystals, bipedal beavers, single-horned goats, and most famously, Vespertilio-homo—winged humanoids dubbed bat-men.
The author was Richard Adams Locke, a reporter seeking to boost newspaper sales and satirize religious scientific theories. The hoax worked far better than anticipated. Crowds swarmed newsstands, demanding copies, making The Sun the most circulated daily paper in the world at the time.
Even rival publications reprinted the sensational accounts as genuine news. Herschel himself was initially amused when news reached him in Cape Town, though he eventually grew annoyed by endless inquiries from believers. The paper finally admitted to the deception weeks later, but instead of suffering backlash, readers found the audacious trick so entertaining that circulation remained higher than ever, permanently altering American sensational journalism.